Virtual smart phone

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of the present invention, a virtual phone is provided which includes a touch screen mounted on an enclosure that includes a processor, memory, wireless communication port, and a power port. The virtual phone further includes a software application executing on the processor to control image display on the touch screen and emulate features of a handheld device presented in the image in response to a user touching a presented feature. The virtual phone further includes a configuration of a user-specific handheld device that is derived from the user-specific handheld device is stored in a memory that is accessible to the processor; wherein the virtual phone presents a visual representation of the user-specific handheld device on the touch screen based on the configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional application U.S. Ser.No. 61/324,614 filed Apr. 15, 2010 which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field

The invention is related to accessing features, functions,customizations, data plans, service provider, applications, or userinterface characteristics of a handheld device for display on a touchscreen that is independent of the handheld device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Mobile smart phones offer a variety of user interfaces, data plans,network services, and the like that are accessible through the smartphone. These features are generally only available through the smartphone device, yet much of the data is backed-up on servers andaccessible to be managed by the user through a web browserinternet-connected terminal/computer. However, without the smart phonephysical device, the benefits of these capabilities are not available tothe user.

Situations such as operating a vehicle may make use of most smart phonesdangerous and handheld device use is illegal while driving in somejurisdictions. Therefore, users must rely in intermediate devices suchas a Bluetooth headset or in-vehicle system that do not provide the fullcomplement of features, including the look and feel of the smart phoneto perform a subset of the smart phone functions, while requiring theuser to keep the smart phone in proximity while operating the vehicle.Similarly users often become familiar with operation of a smart phone,yet need to learn several other types of electronic device interfaces toconduct daily business, make phone calls, access the internet, and thelike. Therefore, users experience unnecessary complication andinefficiency in interacting with these various interfaces when almostall of the capabilities required for daily access to the internet andelectronic media are embodied in the smart phone user interface andfeatures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect of the virtual smart phone methods and systems describedherein, a virtual smart phone is provided. The virtual smart phoneincludes a touch screen, a software application, and a configuration ofa user-specific handheld device that is separate from the virtual smartphone. The touch screen may be mounted on an enclosure. The enclosuremay include a processor, memory, wireless communication port, and apower port. In an embodiment, the touch screen may be a resistive touchscreen, a capacitive touch screen, a surface acoustic wave touch screen,and the like. Further, the software application may be executed on theprocessor to control image display on the touch screen. The softwareapplication may further emulate features of a handheld device presentedin the image in response to a user touching a presented feature. In anembodiment, the features of the handheld device may include volumecontrols, messages, e-mails, internet browser, radio, music player,calendar, games, timer, Global Positioning System (GPS), contacts,applications, clock, maps, camera, and the like. More generally, theemulated features may include elements for controlling a handheld deviceor elements for interacting with applications, of many types, that maybe executed on a handheld device.

Further, a configuration for the virtual smart phone may be derived fromthe separate user-specific handheld device. Such configuration may bestored in a memory that may be accessible to the processor. Theconfiguration of the user-specific handheld device may includeconfiguration data for a calendar, notes, emails, text messages, voicemessages, multimedia messages, media files, applications, wirelessnetwork service plan, contact lists, bookmarks, settings for browsers,network, chat messengers, and the like. In addition, the virtual smartphone may provide a visual representation of the user-specific handhelddevice on the touch screen based on the configuration. In an embodiment,the user specific handheld device may be a smart phone, a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, an iPad, a computer note book,and the like.

In another aspect of the virtual smart phone methods and systemsdescribed herein, a method for accessing a handheld device byinteracting with a projected image is provided. The method includesprojecting an image of a handheld device on a projection screen. Thehandheld device may be communicatively coupled to the projection screen.The method may further include accessing the handheld device byinteracting with the projected image, wherein the projected imageemulates features of the handheld device.

In another aspect of the present virtual smart phone methods and systemsdescribed herein, a method may include accessing configuration dataassociated with a handheld device. The method may further includeemulating functions and features of the handheld device based on theaccessed configuration data.

In yet another aspect of the virtual smart phone methods and systemsdescribed herein, a method of emulating a smart phone may includereceiving information over a network indicative of a smart phone userinterface, including physical features thereof; receiving informationover a network indicative of user-specific data associated with thesmart phone; displaying an image representative of the smart phoneincluding actionable elements based on the user-specific data; andfacilitating, with a processor, access to at least one feature of thesmart phone in response to a user interacting with at least one of theactionable elements. Access to at least one feature of the smart phonema include accessing the at least one feature on the smart phone.Alternatively, access to at least one feature of the smart phone mayinclude accessing the at least one feature without requiring access tothe smart phone.

These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and thedrawings. All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated intheir entirety by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood with reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a smart phone in communication with asystem that facilitates accessing the features, functions, resources andthe like of the smart phone through an image of the smart phone that isprojected on a touch screen;

FIG. 2 depicts a front view of an exemplary automotive embodiment of thesystem depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts a diagram of a simplified flow of a method for use of thesystem of FIG. 1 or 2;

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of a virtual smart phone facilitycomprising a software application in communication with a smart phonedevice and in communication with a communication network;

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict block diagrams of network-based embodiments of avirtual smart phone facility that includes communication services forinteracting with a smart phone device, a network, a network server, andother virtual smart phone facilities; and

FIG. 7 depicts a schematic diagram of a virtual smart phone establishinga call based on the functions, features, resources, and configuration ofan unavailable smart phone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein;however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely pedagogical and does not limit other embodiments in various formsand with various functions. Therefore, specific structural andfunctional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted aslimiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representativebasis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ thepresent invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to belimiting, but rather to provide an understandable description of theinvention.

The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as meaning one ormore than one. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as atleast a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as usedherein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open transition). The term“coupled” or “operatively coupled,” as used herein, is defined as atleast temporarily connected, although not necessarily directly and/ormechanically.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a smart phone in communication with asystem that facilitates accessing the features, functions, resources andthe like of the smart phone through an image of the smart phone that isprojected on a touch screen. Accessing any or all features of a handhelddevice may be accomplished by interacting with a touch screen thatdisplays an image of the handheld device. The virtual smart phone 100may facilitate accessing a handheld device 102 through a communicationmeans 108 (such as a computer network, the internet, Bluetooth, WiFi,WiMax, LTE, and the like). In embodiments, the handheld device 102 maybe, without limitations, a smart phone, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a mobile phone, an IPAD, a computer note book, and the like.Further in embodiments, the virtual smart phone 100 may include a touchscreen 104 that may be, without any limitation, a touch screen, or/andany screen known in the art that may be controlled with a remotecontrol, speech, mouse, touch pad, track ball, and the like. The screen104 may preferably be a touch screen. Communication means 108 may be awireless or a wired communication technology standard. The virtual smartphone 100 may further include displaying an image 110 of the handhelddevice 102 on the screen 104. The screen 104 may also include aplurality of physical buttons 120 that may emulate functionalities ofphysical buttons present on the handheld device 102. In an exemplaryembodiment, the handheld device 102 may include physical buttons 112,114, and 118. The physical buttons 112, 114, and 118 may havefunctionalities like, without any limitation, volume up/down,ring/silent, home button, power On/Off, sleep mode/wake mode, and speeddialing. The screen 104 also includes an interface 122 to facilitatespeech/voice command controlling of the screen 104. In an example, theinterface 122 may be a microphone.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system 100 describedin FIG. 1. FIG. 2 depicts a vehicular deployment 200 of the virtualsmart phone 100 that includes automotive touch screen 202. Further, theautomotive touch screen 202 includes an image 204 of a handheld deviceuser interface, and may include a physical representation of thehandheld device including touchable elements (e.g. touchscreen, icons,physical buttons, keys, and the like). The handheld device may be asdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 1 or may be any other type ofseparate handheld device. The handheld device and the automotive touchscreen 202 may be communicatively coupled via a wireless network and/orwired network as needed for allowing the user to access the features,functions, applications, resources, services, and capabilities of theseparate handheld device through the vehicular-deployed virtual smartphone 100.

Further in embodiments, the automotive touch screen 202 in the vehiclemay be configured into the automobile, without any limitation, on astereo system, dashboard, glove box, console, headrest, rear-view minor,steering wheel, and the like. In other embodiments, the automotive touchscreen 202 may be detachable and may be placed anywhere, such as withinthe vehicle. In the embodiment when the automotive touch screen 202 isdetachable, the automotive touch screen 202 may be placed in a holderand may be attached to the windshield of the vehicle. The automotivetouch screen 202 may also be placed in a docking station and may beattached to the windshield of the vehicle or placed near the stereosystem. Further, the automotive touch screen 202 may have a compact andlight weight housing that may withstand vehicle generated vibrations andmay provide stable viewing platforms. The housing may be flexible torotate sideways and bend.

The term vehicle herein may refer to any type of human conveyance (e.g.automobile, truck, taxi, coach, train, carriage, airplane, boat, ship,submarine, bicycle, motorcycle, and the like) that may be motorized,manually operated, animal powered, autonomously operated, and the like.In an alternative embodiment, the virtual smart phone may be handheld,and or installed either permanently or otherwise in any housing,structure, or other physical element (e.g. a portion of a building (e.gwall, floor, ceiling, window, door), a piece of furniture, monument,kiosk, computer, and the like). The intent herein is to allow thevirtual smart phone 100 to be configured to be used alone or in aphysically cooperative relationship with another object.

In an example, when the automotive touch screen 202 is inbuilt on astereo system of the vehicle and is coupled to the handheld device, abutton, such as one of the stereo system buttons that may be accessibleoutside the border of automotive touch screen 202 may be used toactivate the virtual smart phone 100 functionality on the automotivetouch screen 202. The image 204 of the handheld device may emulatesubstantially all of the features of the separate handheld device thatare available through the various aspects of the user interface of thehandheld device. The various features of the handheld device that may beemulated may include, without any limitation, control features,application features, or the like, such as volume controls, messages,e-mails, Internet browser, radio, music player, calendar, games, timer,Global Positioning System (GPS), contacts, applications, clock, maps,and camera. In an embodiment, the automotive touch screen 202 may havephysical buttons to emulate the functionality of the physical buttonsthat are present on the handheld device as is shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 1. In examples, the emulated physical buttons may have thefunctionality of volume control, power on/off, home button, powerON/Off, sleep mode/wake mode ring/silent, speed dialing, and the like.The automotive touch screen 202 may also have a port for connecting apower cord to provide power to the automotive touch screen 202. In anexample, the automotive touch screen 202 may receive power from thevehicle's battery.

Further, the automotive touch screen 202 or other touch screen asdescribed herein may facilitate access of any of the features, services,functionality, data storage, and the like of the handheld device byfacilitating a user interacting with the image 204. In an example, theautomotive touch screen 202 may be a touch sensitive screen and mayallow interactions based on the touch of a user. In embodiments, thetouch sensitive screen may be one of the following: a resistive touchscreen, capacitive touch screen, surface acoustic wave touch screen, andthe like. In another example, the automotive touch screen 202 may be anyknown in the art screen and may be controlled by direct or indirecttouching, a remote control, speech, a mouse, a touch pad, a track ball,and the like. In an embodiment, the virtual smart phone 100 may includea client application that may allow the automotive touch screen 202 toact as a remote control for the handheld device. The client applicationmay detect various interactions of the user with the image 204including, without any limitation, touch of a finger, location of themouse cursor, and rolling, pushing or tapping of the touch pad or trackball and based on the interaction may trigger the correspondingfunction/control of the handheld device. The trigger from the image 204on the automotive touch screen 202 may be communicated to the handhelddevice via a wireless or wired network that may be a direct connectionbetween the separate handheld device and the virtual smart phone 100 ormay be an indirect connection through one or more networks, such as acellular network and/or the Internet. Thus, the user may operate thehandheld device by interacting with the virtual smart phone 100 image204 just as if the user were interacting with the handheld device. Itwill be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that thehandheld device may or may not require a similar client application tocommunicate with the automotive touch screen 202 and allow seamlessaccess to the user. The client application may further dynamicallyand/or automatically adjust visual dimensions of the image 204 topresent the applications and functions of the handheld device on theautomotive touch screen 202.

FIG. 3 depicts a method for accessing features, functions, resources,user data, calling or data plans, and the like of a handheld device byinteracting with a virtual smart phone 100, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The method starts at step 302. At step 304,an image of the handheld device may be displayed on a touch screen. Thehandheld device may be communicatively coupled to the touch screenthrough one or more wireless or wired networks. Thereafter, at step 308,the handheld device may be accessed by interacting through a touchscreen with the displayed image of the handheld device. The touch screenmay capture user input using any of a wide variety of techniques knownto those of ordinary skill in the art, then storing the input for eitherlocal processing or forwarding it to another processor (or both), suchas a server, or to a processor of the separate handheld device that isbeing emulated. The image may emulate the features and functions of thehandheld device and thus, may allow access to the services that areavailable to a user through the handheld device with the virtual smartphone 100. In various embodiments, processing of touch screen inputs andpresentation of appropriate responsive displays may take place locally,or remotely, including on a separate handheld device that is beingemulated, or by a central server that is used to synchronize the touchscreen display with the separate handheld device. Synchronization of thetouch screen and the separate handheld device for emulation purposes maytake place on a real-time, command-by-command basis (such as bystreaming command packets, with appropriate transformation toaccommodate the operating system and data protocols of the respectivedevices), or by periodic batch updates (with local processing at thetouch screen between updates), using techniques widely understood forsynchronizing processors, memory elements, applications, or the like.

FIG. 4 depicts the virtual smart phone 100 embodied as a softwareapplication 400 that may be executed on any computing facility that mayalso support user interaction through a touch screen. Hereinafter, thesoftware application 400 will be interchangeably referred to as virtualsmart phone application 400. As depicted in the FIG. 4, the virtualsmart phone application 400 may include a device direct configurationdata access facility 402, a network access facility 404, an emulationfacility 408, and a cross platform facility 410. The four facilities402, 404, 408, and 410 may be in communication with each other as wellas in communication with other facilities not specified herein in detail(e.g. a power facility, a radio facility, a data storage facility, andthe like). Further, the virtual smart phone application 400 may interactwith a separate handheld device 412, including smart phones, PDAs,mobile phones, iPads, computer note books, and the like. Generally atouch screen handheld device is contemplated, but any handheld devicemay be emulated with the virtual smart phone facility 100. The virtualsmart phone application 400 may also interact with communicationnetworks 414, including Internet, Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4^(th)Generation (4G), 3^(rd) Generation (3G) cellular networks, and the like.The device direct configuration data access facility 402 may allow thevirtual smart phone application 400 to access and synchronizeconfiguration data associated with the handheld device 412. Theconfiguration data associated with the handheld device 412 may include,without any limitation, calendars, notes, emails, text messages, voicemessages, multimedia messages, media files, applications, wirelessnetwork service plan, contact lists, bookmarks, settings for browsers,network, chat messengers, and the like. The network access facility 404may allow the virtual smart phone application 400 to interact with a webserver over different types of communication networks, and synchronizeand access the configuration data by sending and receiving configurationdata of the handheld device 412 to the web server. The network accessfacility 404 may facilitate network and communication functions likeaccessing applications, making phone calls (in which case the touchscreen may be associated with a speaker and microphone or similarfacilities for enabling voice communication), sending messages, and thelike. The emulation facility 408 may facilitate emulating all features,functions, user interface, applications, customizations, andlook-and-feel of the handheld device 412. The cross platform facility410 may allow the virtual smart phone application 400 to supportemulation of and execute on different types of devices operating ondifferent platforms including, without any limitation, Nokia's Symbian,Google's Android, Apple's iOS, RIM's BlackBerry OS, Microsoft's WindowsPhone, Linux, Palm/HP's WebOS, Samsung's Bada, Nokia's Maemo, and MeeGo.In embodiments the virtual smart phone or other embodiments describedherein may be adapted to accept configuration information from more thanone separate handheld device, including separate handheld devices thatuse different operating systems.

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict network-based embodiments of the virtual smartphone facility 100 wherein a virtual smart phone applicationsynchronizes configuration data of a separate handheld device byinteracting with a web server. FIG. 5 depicts the handheld device 102 incommunication with a virtual smart phone application 502 running on atouch screen computing device 504. In embodiments, the touch screencomputing device 504 may be, without any limitation, a smart phone, aPDA, a mobile phone, an IPAD, a computer note book, and inbuilt screenin a vehicle. In an embodiment, the virtual smart phone application 502may access the configuration data of the handheld device 102 and mayupload the configuration data to a web server 508 via a communicationnetwork 510. In an example, the communication network 510 may be theInternet. In an embodiment, while the configuration data is beinguploaded, a user of the handheld device 102 may secure the future accessof the configuration data. In an example, the configuration data may besecured using a username and a password. Further, the web server 508 maystore the configuration data associated with the handheld device 102 ina secure manner and may allow access to the configuration data uponreceiving the correct username and password set by the user of thehandheld device 102.

Further, there may be cases when the user of handheld device 102 is notwilling or available to access his/her handheld device 102 and may askanother user to access his/her handheld device 102 or may have lost orforgotten his/her handheld device 102 and needs to access the features,functions, applications, services, data, and the like of his/herhandheld device. In such cases, the user may use a touch screencomputing device having a virtual smart phone application installed onit in lieu of having access to his/her handheld device. FIG. 5 furtherdepicts a touch screen computing device 512 having a virtual smart phoneapplication 514. In an embodiment, the touch screen computing device 512may access the configuration data of the handheld device 102 using thevirtual smart phone application 514 and may function like the handhelddevice 102. A user of the touch screen computing device 512 may use thevirtual smart phone application 514 to access the configuration dataassociated with the handheld device 102 from the web server 508 via thecommunication network 510. The configuration data may be accessed byproviding the same username and password that was used while uploadingthe configuration data to the web server 508. Once the configurationdata of the handheld device 102 is available, the virtual smart phoneapplication 514 may allow access of to the same features, functions,applications, data, services and the like of the handheld device 102 bydisplaying its image on the touch screen of the computing device 512.The displayed image may emulate all the features, functions,applications and the like of the handheld device 102 and may provide anexact look-and-feel of the handheld device 102.

Referring now to FIG. 6 that depicts a handheld device 602 having avirtual smart phone application 604. The virtual application 604 mayaccess the configuration data 608 associated with the handheld device602 and may upload the configuration data to a web server 508 via thecommunication network 510. In an embodiment, while the configurationdata is being uploaded, a user of the handheld device 602 may secure thefuture access of the configuration data. In an example, theconfiguration data may be secured using a username and a password.Further, the web server 508 may store the configuration data in a securemanner and may allow access to the configuration data upon receiving thecorrect username and password set by the user of the handheld device602. In an embodiment, when physical access of handheld device 602 isnot possible, the features and functionalities of the handheld device602 may be accessed through the touch screen computing device 512 asdiscussed in conjunction with FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment 700 wherein a virtual smart phone facilityestablishes a call based on accessed configuration data of a handhelddevice 102 independent of if the handheld device 102 is disabled. FIG. 7depicts a disabled handheld device 102, a virtual smart phone 702, thecommunication network 510, the web server 508, a gateway 704, a celltower 710, and a called party handheld device 708. The user of thehandheld device 102 may access the configuration data associated withthe handheld device 102 and may configure the virtual smart phone 702 toact like the handheld device 102. It will be apparent to a personordinarily skilled in the art that the virtual smart phone 702 may be avirtual smart phone application that may execute on a computing device(similar to the touch screen computing device 504). Based on theconfiguration data, the virtual smart phone 702 may identify thewireless carrier for the handheld device 102, the wireless service plan,type of wireless network, and the like. In an embodiment, the wirelessnetwork may be, without any limitation, LTE, 4G, 3G, and the like. Basedon this identification, the virtual smart phone 702 may request the webserver 508 to connect to the gateway for the identified wireless carrierso as to establish the call with the handheld device 708. On receivingthe request, the web server 508 may forward the call request to theidentified gateway 704. The gateway 704 upon receiving the call requestmay search for a cell tower serving the handheld device 708 (on theidentified wireless carrier network or another wireless carrier networkbased on the wireless network serving the handheld device 708). Afterthe gateway 704 has identified the cell tower, the handheld device 708may be located and the call may be established. In this way the user hasfull access to the capabilities and features of his/her smart phonethrough the virtual smart phone system even though the user's smartphone handheld device may not even be turned on.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software, program codes,and/or instructions on a processor. The processor may be part of aserver, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform,stationary computing platform, or other computing platform. A processormay be any kind of computational or processing device capable ofexecuting program instructions, codes, binary instructions and the like.The processor may be or include a signal processor, digital processor,embedded processor, microprocessor or any variant such as a co-processor(math co-processor, graphic co-processor, communication co-processor andthe like) and the like that may directly or indirectly facilitateexecution of program code or program instructions stored thereon. Inaddition, the processor may enable execution of multiple programs,threads, and codes. The threads may be executed simultaneously toenhance the performance of the processor and to facilitate simultaneousoperations of the application. By way of implementation, methods,program codes, program instructions and the like described herein may beimplemented in one or more thread. The thread may spawn other threadsthat may have assigned priorities associated with them; the processormay execute these threads based on priority or any other order based oninstructions provided in the program code. The processor may includememory that stores methods, codes, instructions and programs asdescribed herein and elsewhere. The processor may access a storagemedium through an interface that may store methods, codes, andinstructions as described herein and elsewhere. The storage mediumassociated with the processor for storing methods, programs, codes,program instructions or other type of instructions capable of beingexecuted by the computing or processing device may include but may notbe limited to one or more of a CD-ROM, DVD, memory, hard disk, flashdrive, RAM, ROM, cache and the like.

A processor may include one or more cores that may enhance speed andperformance of a multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be adual core processor, quad core processors, other chip-levelmultiprocessor and the like that combine two or more independent cores(called a die).

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software on a server,client, firewall, gateway, hub, router, or other such computer and/ornetworking hardware. The software program may be associated with aserver that may include a file server, print server, domain server,internet server, intranet server and other variants such as secondaryserver, host server, distributed server and the like. The server mayinclude one or more of memories, processors, computer readable media,storage media, ports (physical and virtual), communication devices, andinterfaces capable of accessing other servers, clients, machines, anddevices through a wired or a wireless medium, and the like. The methods,programs or codes as described herein and elsewhere may be executed bythe server. In addition, other devices required for execution of methodsas described in this application may be considered as a part of theinfrastructure associated with the server.

The server may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, clients, other servers, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location without deviating from the scope ofthe invention. In addition, any of the devices attached to the serverthrough an interface may include at least one storage medium capable ofstoring methods, programs, code and/or instructions. A centralrepository may provide program instructions to be executed on differentdevices. In this implementation, the remote repository may act as astorage medium for program code, instructions, and programs.

The software program may be associated with a client that may include afile client, print client, domain client, internet client, intranetclient and other variants such as secondary client, host client,distributed client and the like. The client may include one or more ofmemories, processors, computer readable media, storage media, ports(physical and virtual), communication devices, and interfaces capable ofaccessing other clients, servers, machines, and devices through a wiredor a wireless medium, and the like. The methods, programs or codes asdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by the client. Inaddition, other devices required for execution of methods as describedin this application may be considered as a part of the infrastructureassociated with the client.

The client may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, servers, other clients, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location without deviating from the scope ofthe invention. In addition, any of the devices attached to the clientthrough an interface may include at least one storage medium capable ofstoring methods, programs, applications, code and/or instructions. Acentral repository may provide program instructions to be executed ondifferent devices. In this implementation, the remote repository may actas a storage medium for program code, instructions, and programs.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure mayinclude elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs,firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routingdevices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or componentsas known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s)associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from othercomponents, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM,ROM and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructionsdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of thenetwork infrastructural elements.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiplecells. The cellular network may either be frequency division multipleaccess (FDMA) network or code division multiple access (CDMA) network.The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, basestations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell networkmay be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.

The methods, programs codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobiledevices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones,mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers,electronic books readers, music players and the like. These devices mayinclude, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flashmemory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. Thecomputing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled toexecute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon.Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to executeinstructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices maycommunicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured toexecute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on a peer topeer network, mesh network, or other communications network. The programcode may be stored on the storage medium associated with the server andexecuted by a computing device embedded within the server. The basestation may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storagedevice may store program codes and instructions executed by thecomputing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be storedand/or accessed on machine readable media that may include: computercomponents, devices, and recording media that retain digital data usedfor computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known asrandom access memory (RAM); mass storage typically for more permanentstorage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like harddisks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cachememory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage such asCD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks or keys),floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standalone RAMdisks, Zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the like; othercomputer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/writestorage, mutable storage, read only, random access, sequential access,location addressable, file addressable, content addressable, networkattached storage, storage area network, bar codes, magnetic ink, and thelike.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/oror intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systemsdescribed herein may also transform data representing physical and/orintangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein, including in flow charts andblock diagrams throughout the figures, imply logical boundaries betweenthe elements. However, according to software or hardware engineeringpractices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may beimplemented on machines through computer executable media having aprocessor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations may be within thescope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include,but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops,personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices,medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers,chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic books, gadgets,electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computingdevices, networking equipments, servers, routers and the like.Furthermore, the elements depicted in the flow chart and block diagramsor any other logical component may be implemented on a machine capableof executing program instructions. Thus, while the foregoing drawingsand descriptions set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems,no particular arrangement of software for implementing these functionalaspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context. Similarly, it will beappreciated that the various steps identified and described above may bevaried, and that the order of steps may be adapted to particularapplications of the techniques disclosed herein. All such variations andmodifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for various stepsshould not be understood to require a particular order of execution forthose steps, unless required by a particular application, or explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware andsoftware suitable for a particular application. The hardware may includea general purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specificcomputing device or particular aspect or component of a specificcomputing device. The processes may be realized in one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers,programmable digital signal processors or other programmable device,along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, orinstead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, aprogrammable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other deviceor combination of devices that may be configured to process electronicsignals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of theprocesses may be realized as a computer executable code capable of beingexecuted on a machine readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software, or any other machinecapable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performingthe steps associated with the processes described above may include anyof the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. A virtual phone, comprising: a touch screen mounted on an enclosure that includes a processor, memory, wireless communication port, and a power port; a software application executing on the processor to control image display on the touch screen and emulate features of a handheld device presented in the image display in response to a user touching a presented feature; and a configuration of a user-specific handheld device that is stored in a memory that is accessible to the processor; wherein the virtual phone presents a visual representation of the user-specific handheld device on the touch screen based on the configuration.
 2. The virtual phone of claim 1, wherein the touch screen is one of: a resistive touch screen, capacitive touch screen, and surface acoustic wave touch screen.
 3. A method of emulating a smart phone, comprising: receiving information over a network indicative of a smart phone user interface, including physical features thereof; receiving information over a network indicative of user-specific data associated with the smart phone; displaying an image representative of the smart phone including actionable elements based on the user-specific data; and facilitating, with a processor, access to at least one feature of the smart phone in response to a user interacting with at least one of the actionable elements.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein access to at least one feature of the smart phone includes accessing the at least one feature on the smart phone.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein access to at least one feature of the smart phone includes accessing the at least one feature without requiring access to the smart phone. 